Jay Brown: ‘Coil Guys For Life’ Book Review

By Jay Brown Coil Guys For Life, Handmade Tattoo Machines and Their Builders, by Dano Collins is a compilation of 34 tattoo machine builders and their stories, or bios if you prefer, their art, their tattooing and of course their tattoo machines. This hardbound book covers a wide array of machine builders from the old-schoolers to the new generation of machine builders. This book contains a broad spectrum of builds from practical, to absolutely wild, to fine art. Every page shows great work from these fine craftsmen of the electric coil-type tattooing machine…

The machine builders that are covered in this 102 page book are from the US and beyond, featuring 11 builders from Europe to New Zealand. Builders featured in this book are:

Joe Agamemnon (Ireland)

Baltzar Bauer (Portugal)

John Black (USA)

Pierre Bong (Suriname)

David Brassart (France)

J.A. Brown (USA)

Chuck Byfeild (USA)

Rick Cherry (USA)

Dano Collins (USA)

Chris Dewitt (USA)

Mike DePisa (USA)

Rich Fisher (USA)

Rusty Gordon (USA)

Larry Hanks (USA)

Scott Hepworth (USA)

Rickie Lee Hoover (USA)

Jordan Kiel (USA)

Jimbo LeBoeuf (USA)

Fabio Mendez (Spain)

D.J. Neuendorf (USA)

Peter Daniel Nilsson (Sweden)

Richie Pan (USA)

Rob Patterson (USA)

Jeff Reilly (Tasmania)

Jason Romair (USA)

Justin Sain (USA)

Svilen Somlev (Bulgaria)

Mike Stratton (England)

Bill Strickland (USA)

Eddy Svetich (USA)

Rodney Tribe (New Zealand)

Andy “Jo” Villapando (USA)

Tobie Warren (USA)

Danny Williams (Canada)

Each featured artist has their contact info included with their bios in the book, so if you see something you like…

Dano Collins put the book together from builders from his “Old School Irons Builders Forum” which was started in 2007 and is an invitation only forum to custom machine builders, where they can share techniques, talk theory and history, etc. In the forum there are currently 135 members from all over the world.

Some of the members are veterans in tattooing as well as worthy novices, all share a common love for the coil-type electric tattoo machine. With over 600 photos of tattoo machines, this book is a great addition for any tattooer’s or enthusiast’s book case. As stated on the back cover the book, “Takes you on a journey through the creative minds of some of the tattooing industries most creative and innovative machine builders…”

The book is available through Dano Collins website at www.oldschoolirons.com for $50 dollars plus postage. Make sure to put this great reference to some of today’s finest builders on your list of books to buy… you won’t regret it!